


Thoughts Of A Soul-Mate

by MayM



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Caring Harry Styles, England - Freeform, F/M, Female Friendship, Female Protagonist, Gay Male Character, Harry styles/original female character - Freeform, Insecure Louis, Original Character(s), POV Female Character, POV Original Character, POV Original Female Character, Protective Zayn, Puppy Liam, Sad Niall, Zayn Malik & Harry Styles Friendship, one direction - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-30
Updated: 2014-03-30
Packaged: 2018-01-03 01:25:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 21,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1064032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayM/pseuds/MayM
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Happy Birthday Anna :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This one is only a short one because tomorrow a really big one is going to be put up :) I started it but didn't finish it, and so decided to cut it off here and then post the rest and added stuff tomorrow :)

 “Alright, then Belle, take a left here,” Phil, my driving instructor commands, pointing at the turning. I shudder at the name he calls me, yet I don’t comment on it. I hate being called Belle. Or Bella. Or anything to begin with B. I indicate and swing the wheel round, turning my Ford so that it goes down the street. “Good, that was a good turn,” He murmurs, jotting something down. My palms become clammy as I glance down to his clipboard, desperate to see his notes. This is my practice exam for my driving test, my last practice on the road before the actual one. “Careful!” He yells, as a student jogs across the road. My eyes snap back to the street and I slam down on the breaks, causing us both to spring forward slightly before being restrained by our seatbelts. “You’ve got to keep your eyes on the road, Annabel,” He scolds, adding another note. I take deep breaths before pressing my foot down on the accelerator again. Calm down, Annie, calm down, I think to myself, you’re doing fine. I hope.

Half an hour later, Phil instructs me to pull over just before we reach the turning to my house. The car bumps up onto the curb and I shut the engine off, the calming judder leaving the car in an icy silence.

“Now Belle, going by what I saw today, you’re going to pass with flying colours, so don’t worry one bit. One problem is you get distracted easily, so just make sure that tomorrow you’re concentrated on just the driving rather than what the instructor is writing down, trust me, you’ll do better. Other than that, you’re fine,” He breaks off and smiles at me, and I feel myself smiling in relief back. I release my iron grip on the steering wheel, not having realised how hard I was grabbing it. I rub my knuckles, and thank him for teaching me.

“Not at all, not at all,” He waves, beaming proudly. “Oh, and I don’t usually do this for my students, but I’m having a family and neighbour barbeque tomorrow, if you want to come along. You can bring  a friend if you’ll find it too awkward, but my nephew will be there with a few friends, he’s about your age I think, maybe a year or two older.”

“Tomorrow… That’s Saturday, right?” I ask, chewing my lip and furrowing my eyebrows. I don’t think I have much to do, I needed to write an essay for English, some Spanish verbs to learn and a leaflet on the income of Apple for Business Studies, but other than that, I don’t usually do much on my weekends.

“Yes, the day of your driving test?” He says jokingly, and I laugh with him, but inside I kick myself for momentarily forgetting about it.

“Sure, what time do you want me to be over there?”

“Four or five? I can get my nephew to pick you up, he got his driving test a couple of months ago, and your test will end by then,” I mull over what he says, “Unless of course you get in an accident during the test,” He laughs, and I join in. The butterflies in my stomach turn into pterodactyls, beating against my rib cage.

“What time will it go on till?” I ask.

“Oh probably about nine at the latest?” I nod, and then make a decision.

“Sure I’ll come. So will your nephew be fine picking me up then?”

“Oh I’m sure he will, he can be quite moody, but he has his moments,” He assures me as he puts away his clipboard.

“Alright, and thank you again Phil, you’ve been a brilliant teacher!”

“Oh not at all, Belle, not at all.” He smiles easily. I turn the engine back on and then swing the car off of the curb, forward a bit, and then up the rocky lane. It slopes up a hill, with a field to the side of it. As we reach the top I take the turning and then roll over the gravelly drive way. I switch off the engine in front of my house and we both exit the car. Phil slings his shoulder bag across his chest and onto his shoulder and then waves before going to his own parked car. I lock my car as he gets in his own, and he then leaves. I crunch up to the steps, my worn out converses and small stones becoming speckled with the rain. I climb up the few steps and then knock on the door. My sister answers and then bounds away as soon as the lock clicks open. I push the door out further and step inside, slipping off my shoes. The necklace around my neck suddenly burns iron hot, and I scream, grabbing at it. The heat subsides as quickly as it came. I lean against the wall, panting and rubbing just below my collar bone, where my chest was burnt.

It must be soon. After my pulse returns to normal, I smile. Everyone receives a necklace at birth, and they keep it with them forever. We aren’t allowed to take it off, and who would take it off? Once it leave your neck, your whole body feels empty and hollow, it feels like you don’t belong anywhere. Not that I’ve ever taken it off, but it’s just known. A fact. Each necklace has a matching one, but they don’t look at all alike, and whoever owns that necklace is your soul-mate. As a young child, you feel no bond with your pair, but you grow attached to your necklace, the bare glass becoming streaked with colours and becomes distorted, based on your personality and the way you react to people as you grow older. Every day a new little flake or line of colour could be added, the glass can mould to a completely different shape to what it was just a few months ago. The colours build up to a beautiful cacophony, each one as beautiful as the other. My own is filled with brilliant shades of green and blues, with a few deep purples dotting some of the swirls, and even a few dashes of yellow merged in with the sea. It is smooth and completely oval, the longer side going horizontal, and like every other, the back is completely flat so it rests easily against the skin. Some look similar, but every single one is unique. After the first burn, a name will begin to be engraved on the back of it, for you to then find your soul-mate. It takes a couple months for the name to be completely visible.

Each necklace is connected to its soul-mate from birth, and after turning three you begin to feel the emotions and thoughts of your soul-mate. It can be confusing, but it also mentally builds your relationship, and prepares you for when you are Bonded. It’s good in most cases, if I’m feeling happy and they’re feeling sad and I can sense it, I usually try to make what’s making me happy bigger so that my happiness can help me not be sad, and vice versa, but it can be confusing for both of you. In class I’ll suddenly become exhausted, or feel hung over even though I don’t drink much, or become angry and start getting annoyed at the people around me, which can affect their feelings and therefore their soul-mates, and make a chain branching out. I don’t know who my soul-mate is, their gender, what they look like, their name, where they live or how old they are (although there’s usually an age range no more than ten years apart) but I am already deeply in love with them.

I’ve heard of a few cases when people fall in love with people who _aren’t_ their soul-mates, which confuses their actual soul-mates feelings and can lead to suicide. It makes me sick thinking of people that go against what their necklace says. Who could be so horrible to the person that has grown up in their heart? Who could disregard the one made for them?

A feeling of pain burns in my mind, and then is gone, and replaced with nervous excitement. When concentrating, it’s easy to separate your emotions and your soul-mates, but it still effects your own mood. I know somewhere, my soul-mate has also just had their necklace burnt. I could meet them soon, I could finally meet my soul-mate, after fifteen years of hearing their thoughts! My stomach flips with the excitement, and I pull the necklace down. The chain lengthens, new links clinking into place as I pull down. Slowly, I turn it over. A small ‘ _a’_ is faintly visible in the light, and I feel my heart soar. I have a letter! Relief floods through me at the final confirmation. Some people don’t have soul-mates, the emotions and thoughts in their head channelled from their necklace, to try and not ruin the childhood, however it never burns. No name ever shows. They always burn on one of the soul-mate’s twentieth birthday, and once the person pasts thirty, they know that their soul-mate never existed, and that they themselves are asexual. No one knows their sexuality until their necklace burns, or of course once they reach thirty. I know now that I’m not asexual, which is a relief, because I know you can’t know your sexuality for sure, but you do have an inkling by just seeing people around in the street. I know I’m attracted to some boys, and I often wonder if one of them are my soul-mate, but I know deep down that none of them are. Apparently, when you first see your soul-mate, you just _know_ it’s them, and it will be them forever. Also, I’ve seen some people come depressed when they realise they’re asexual. Not because it means they can’t be in a relationship, because they know that they never really wanted that, but it’s the feeling inside that their best friend since they were three is in fact just a piece of glass hanging around their neck.

“Annie, how did it go?” My mother calls out, coming in to the hallway, straightening her apron.

“Great, mum. He said I’ll pass if I drive like that tomorrow!”

“Oh that’s excellent! Anything else you wanted to tell me?” She asks, her eyes twinkling slightly. She knows. This may sound harsh, but I kind of wanted to keep it secret for at least a little bit, keep it for just myself and my soul-mate

“My necklace burnt,” I murmur, and she squeals, pulling me into a hug. I freeze up slightly, before tentatively putting my arms around her back.

“Oh Annie I’m so proud of you! What’s it say?”

“Just an A so far, but it’s quite faint.”

“Hmm not sure if I approve of you having a _twenty_ year old soul-mate,” She muses, and I sigh, “Only kidding! Oh that’s excellent darling, I’m so happy for you, I remember that amazing feeling of finding out your soul-mate! Oh it was magical.” She beams at me and then nods her head towards the kitchen, and I follow her. She opens the oven and pulls out a roast chicken bubbling with juice, its skin golden brown and slightly crispy. I feel my mouth water as she sets the tray onto the counter and begins slicing the tender meat into thin, even slices.

My sister comes through singing loudly and slightly out of tune. “Shut up, Laura,” I moan. I feel a dull drunk feeling stirring in the back of my mind, and everything seems louder than usual. Although I love my soul-mate, I really need to stop them drinking so much, it’s really affecting me. I try to send a telepathic message to put the glass down and go read a book or something, but it’s useless. You can only do that once you have been Bonded. I rub the side of my head, wincing slightly as she reaches a high note. I feel irritance building at the front of my brain, but it’s quelled slightly by the relaxed, fun feeling in the back of my mind. I hate these conflicting emotions.

Laura, my sister is three years older than me in academic years. I just had my seventeenth birthday of the 1st of December, her 20th will be on the 21st of April. Her necklace hasn’t burnt yet, so we presume she’ll be the older one. I hope. She always boasts to me how amazing her soul-mate is and how kind they are, and although I find it annoying, I know how attached she can get to things, and to have her soul-mate taken away would devastate her.

“Laura, did you hear the good news?” My mum asks, serving me some chicken.

“Good news for me, or just another thing to make me feel like the lesser sister?” She grumbles, eyes cast down and a scowl on her face. Her soul-mate is having issues, I can tell. She’s the one my mother prioritises over everything, and she knows it.

“Annie, do you want to tell her?”

“I uh… my necklace burnt.” I answer, flicking my eyes nervously to Laura. Her own eyes narrow, and she grabs her fork. My mother continues to serve us up, unaware of the thunder clouds rolling over Laura’s face. She pierces her knife through a potato and shoves the thing into her mouth whole. I see tears well up in her eyes from the heat, but she chews defiantly, not showing any weakness. I slice up all my potatoes to let the heat out of them, my eyes continuously exchanging between my plate and my sister.

“Can you believe it, Laura? My seventeen year old daughter with a twenty year old soul-mate! It’s unbelievable!”

“How?” She spits back, scraping her knife against the plate as her vigorous cutting sliced through the meat.

“I… don’t understand,” My mother replies, frowning worriedly at Laura.

“Neither do I!” Laura screams, bursting from her seat. She grabs her plate and launches it at the wall. It shatters and my mother screams Laura’s name. My sister’s face is glazed over, her eyes unrecognizable. This isn’t something Laura would do, this is her soul-mate affecting her mood, but I’ve never seen it this bad before. This panic attacks can strike unexpectedly on people all the time, the battle of emotions reaching the capacity the brain can handle before the brain’s signals shut down and let its own and its soul-mate’s actions be controlled by the emotion’s combined. I grab my phone and run to the speaker at the edge of the room. I plug it in and turn up the volume to nearly full, and then I click play on Laura’s favourite song. She had gotten half way across to the table to grab the rest of the plates when her whole body froze, as if someone had clicked pause. The guitar blared in my ears, and made me feel like my head was on fire, but I ground my teeth and fought the pain. My ears began to ring as Laura’s body sank to the floor, as if she had fainted. That’s four times this month alone.

I slowly shut off the music, and drag my feet across the room to my sister’s twitching body. My mother sweeps up the shattered china, tears in her eyes. She used the plates Laura and I had decorated when I was ten for the meal. I shake my head. This is all my fault.

“Laura,” I murmur, tentatively resting my hand on her shoulder. Usually, it takes her ten minutes to slowly come around, and then have her make some excuse that her soul-mate is stressed with exams.

This time, however, her hand lurches up and grabs my wrist. I suck my breath in in horror, but her iron grasp keeps my wrist by her. Her eyes fly open and spin around the room, not properly focusing on anything. Tears roll down from her eyes, the ones from her left eye splashing off her nose, the ones from her right dampening her hair.

“Oh Annabel…” She whispers, her eyes finally swivelling up and sweeping back and forth across my face, only just being able to see. “My soul-mate… They’re with someone else…” He voice trails off, and she releases my hand. I keep it there in shock, my unblinking eyes unfocused as she pulls her hand into her chest, curls up into the foetus position and weeps, tears racking through her body. I brush my hand over her head, but she just tucks it further into her body, turning away from human touch. My mother stands in the doorway, silent tears trailing down her face.

 I brush past her, and she doesn’t react, she just continues staring at my sister.

I slowly ascend the stairs, mulling over what has happened to my sister. How dare her soul-mate do this to her. How _dare_ someone do this to their soul-mate? My appetite is lost, yet my stomach growls to be fed. I clamber into bed and pull the duvet up to my chin.

I feel in the back of my mind happiness, and joy, and freedom, with a blur of alcohol. There’s also something else there, that isn’t there from being tainted from my mind. Worry. My soul-mate’s mood isn’t souring because of mine, but they’re reacting to how I’m thinking. I think over and over again thank you, as I know thinking that I’m fine won’t trick them. I feel their worriedness increase, and their mood stoop low suddenly. I groan into my pillow as I feel my soul-mate’s mind sharpen a little as they sober up. I want them to go back to drinking. I want them to continue partying, so that I can get lost in this world and become drunk without having to have a sip of a drink. Please forget about me, please, I beg, but it’s no use. They mirror my feeling of annoyance as they leave the party and their friends. I can feel the difference of the collectedness in their mind as they are welcomed by the night.

I am grateful for my soul-mate, though I do wish they didn’t worry so much about me. I love them, I love them, I love them.

Poor Laura.

 

I knock on the door, and Laura opens it, her hair hanging loosely over her tired face. Before I can say anything, she leans forward and falls into my arms, her thin limbs clinging to my back like a spider monkey. I pat her back and inhale her familiar scent, vanilla with a hint of rose. Her body shakes with sobs, and I hold onto her tighter, not wanting her to fall under the blanket of depression. I hate her soul-mate. I hate them I hate them I hate them. And I also hate the person her soul-mate is with, they too have a soul-mate, or at least think they do- why are they doing it too?

She snivels and pulls away, her hair slipping forward like a curtain. “Thanks Annabel. How was the driving test?” She whispers through a voice hoarse with crying.

“It was goo… I… uh…”

“You don’t need to act any differently, I’m still the same old Laura,” She laughs, but it’s hollow, and turns into a sob halfway through.

“I passed.” I admit, but my joy of success turns sour in my mouth as I watch my frail sister. A ghost of a smile whispers on her lips, and she hugs me again.

“I’m so proud of you, lil sis,” She croaks out, and for once, her congratulations are sincere. I hug her back and smile gravely. Funny how bad situations can even bring out the best in people.

“Oh by the way, there’s a boy in the living room for you. His second letter of his name is an ‘A’ so she’s pampering him with tea and already sucking up to him.” She smiles tentatively, yet I can see the hurt in her eyes.

“A boy?” I practically shriek, and then remember Phil, “Oh right! It’s my driving instructor’s nephew. He’s here to pick me up for the barbeque.”

“Yeah, he said something about that… he looks like a good man, Annie. You be nice to him, even if he’s not your soul-mate.”

“Laura!”

“No I just mean, don’t find out he’s not your soul-mate and then feel like you can’t talk to him, trust me I’ve done it to most of my friends, both girl and boy. It’s an easy, and repeatable mistake, so you just… be careful.” She rests her hand on my shoulder, before gliding away like the ghost she’s become. I take a shaky breath and step through to the living room. A tall boy stands there, his lips slightly pouty, dark hair whipped up at the top, his white teeth shining brilliantly against his dark skin.

“Hi, you must be Phil’s nephew?” I ask, as I walk over to him. I don’t even need him to answer, the resemblance between them is uncanny; he looks more like brother than nephew.

Phil found out two years ago that he is in fact asexual, and therefore wouldn’t be able to have children himself, and so I guess he must be pretty close to this boy.

“Yeah, hi, my name’s Zayn,” He replies, shaking my hand with a smile. My god do they look alike. “Well do you think we should hea-“

“Annie I was just asking Zayn here how old he is,” My mother interrupts as she bustles into the room, holding a tray with a jug of lemonade and three glasses.

He glances at me, before replying, “I turn twenty on the eight of December,” He replies, smiling at her.

“Oh.” She answers stiffly, shooting me a warning look, “Oh, very well then. Enjoy the barbeque,” And with that, she leaves to go to the kitchen. I grab a glass and pour a bit in, just to quench my dry throat. I knew it wasn’t him as soon as I walked through, I just didn’t feel a connection or any kind of spark. Sure, he’s good looking, but definitely not my soul-mate. I try and kick out the sense of disappointment, for once ashamed that my soul-mate can feel my thoughts.

Just as I expected, a dash of betrayl streaks through the back of my mind. Grinding my teeth, I place the glass back down and grab a coat.

“Bye!” I call out behind me, following him outside and then slamming shut the door behind me.

He opens the door for me and I slide into the seat somewhat gracefully, and he closes the door with a friendly smirk. He walks around the back of the car (which I think is a bit pointless but okay) and gets into the driver’s seat. I buckle myself in, and he does the same, before putting the key in, starting the engine, and pulling out of my driveway.

We drive in silence to Phil’s house, but I don’t mind, nor find it awkward. I watch the world fly by the windows, knowing the way off by heart by the amount of drives I’ve done.

“It took me a while to find your house, y’know,” He speaks up.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.”

We return to silence. After having the smallest amount of speech, I now feel the awkwardness of the situation. Oh god.

“So… So, who else will be there of your friends? I was told I could bring one but I thought I could… uh, hang out with you guys?” He waits a beat before answering, in which I slid down my chair slightly in embarrassment.

“Oh, yeah that’s cool. I’m sure they’ll like you. There are a few girls there, Rosie, Kate and Hannah. Rosie and Hannah have been best friends for years and years, and I don’t want to get involved in any girl fights here, but it seems Rosie is… disliking Hannah at the moment, and Kate seems to agree. So yeah, uh, hang with any of them I guess. Then there are a few more boys, there is me, a guy called Luke, James Farlong and James Orden, just call them F and O, we all do. There's one called Harry. Also my soul-mate, Dom. He turned twenty three years ago, and we’ve been together for five years. We’ve been living next door to each other since we were young, and apparently before romance gets involved with soul-mates, we seemed to do the kid stuff of playing Daddy ‘N’ Daddy, and well by the time we were fifteen we kind of realised we were each other’s soul-mates by experimenting. By sixteen we were able to send snippets of words to each other, without even being Bonded,” He concludes proudly, his voice softer when talking of Dom, but I barely registered any of it.

My whole mind was channelled around one name. Harry. Harry. Harry. Something about that name clicked in my mind and lodged in my heart, and at the same time cleared my mind and awoke my whole body. It feels as if I’m a great piece of clockwork, but the whole circuit was broken from a few missing cogs, and with just that name one of them was found, allowing me to move a bit better. I take a shaky breath as the emotions overwhelm me, and I feel in the back of my mind confusion, and a note of hysteria. I manage to keep myself low on the tidal wave of emotions, but I feel my soul-mate’s brain become weak and hazy. I calm myself down, trying to send the soothing thoughts to my soul-mate. I instantly feel an effect. They calm down.

“You alright?” Zayn asks, frowning at me.

“Brilliant.” I breath, shakily, turning to him and smiling widely. He accepts my smile and returns his eyes to the road. We’re here.

He pulls the car into the driveway and parks it, shutting off the engine.

“Ready?” I nod, and we step out of the car. I feel rude for not paying attention to what Zayn was saying about his boyfriend, and also guilty considering how kind he’s being.

“So tell me more about Dom,” I say, as we wander up the path.

“He is… What makes my life complete, it’s like, in a song… A song doesn’t sound right without a base line, it sounds empty and just not full enough. That was me before, a song without a base, or should I say Dom.” I nod, and actually pay attention to what he’s saying. I understand what he means already. He holds open the gate for me and allows me through.

“Belle!” Phil calls out from the grill, waving the spatula in the air. I wave and then glance around the garden. I spot the three girls and immediately see the tension between them. I continue to trail my eyesight along until I see the boys. One jumps up and waves at us as soon as Zayn walks in behind me, and Zayn brushes past me to jog across the garden. They hug tightly, revolving on the spot. I smile at them.

“Hey, Annabel, come and meet Dom!” He calls out as they pull apart and he wraps his arm around his waist, Dom tossing his own over Zayn’s shoulder.

I make my way down the small slope and then trek across the thick grass to get to them.

“Hi, I’m Annabel, but most people call me Anna or Annie,” I say, smiling at him.

“Hi Anna, nice to meet you,” He replies. I rock on my heels and glance behind him to see the others.

“Harry, what’s this?” One of them asks, and I see a boy lift his head. Harry.


	2. Chapter 2

It's him. It's my soul-mate. I know it is. He lounges on a garden chair, a half eaten burger in his right hand, head inclined to his friend. I feel my whole body freeze up, the rest of the world grow blurry and he become focused. My heart swells in my chest and my pulse quickens to the speed of a hummingbird's, and at last he senses my presence. I watch as his eyes flick to and fro slightly, as if thinking deeply, before snapping up to my face. I suck in a gasp as our eyes meet.

The crumpled skin in between his eyebrows clears, and his lips part slightly, revealing straight white teeth behind them. In that moment, it's as if I feel an energy pass in between us, as if some unknown force is making me drag my feet towards him. I'm unable to block the different feeling of his and mine, and I can tell he's having the same problem. Dom continues to talk to Zayn, and the others follow on with their conversations, but a ringing in my ears blocks them out. I try to flex my hand but it's hard to move my muscles anymore. Harry, Harry, _Harry_ .

I trip slightly on a stick, and I feel someone grab my waist. I feel like a small child as I try to outstretch my hands to where _he_ sits, and I see the desperation in his eyes, and feel it poison my thoughts. Words bubble in my chest like vomit but they are unable to explode out of my mouth, my own woozy brain keeping them down. The emotions build up in my mind until everything goes white, and all I can hear is a high pitched note. My knees buckle beneath me and my eyes close, their last view of Harry being dragged away by Hannah.

***

"Anna... Anna... Can you hear me?" A male's voice shouts, yet the sound has difficulty making it's way through the wool in my ears.

"I'm fine, get off of me!" I groan. Now not facing Harry, I force my eyes to focus on the grass. Phil leans in close to me, his face worried. "Seriously, I'm fine, thank you," I say softer. He holds out a hand, and I accept it.

After being shakily pulled up, I take a deep breath. "Oh by the way, how did your drivers test go?" Phil asks, zapping my attention to him. I inwardly force myself to be patient, and reply.

"Oh right! I passed! Thanks so much for all your help,"

"It's alright, I'm just glad I _could_ help."

"That's excellent!" A female says next to him, smiling so widely it bordelines creepy. I laugh nervously as he blue eyes bore into mine, and I feel myself want to take a step back from her. The hairs rise up on the back of my neck, and Harry begins to grow worried and angry. I mirror his emotions. Just as I'm about to make an excuse and go and find Harry, she speaks up again, grabbing my wrist. Ouch, "So have you found your soul-mate yet?" She asks, recieving an odd look from Phil.

"Kathy... That's a bit of a personal question to be asking her..." Phil begins, frowning at her.

"Oh she doesn't mind, she's not like men," Kathy shrieks, pushing Phil's shoulder jokily, although quite hard. He stumbles, and then shakes his head at her.

"Sorry guys, I gotta go uh... tend the barbeque." I shoot him a begging look, and he returns with an apologetic, and rather sheepish, one.

"So, have you?" My eyes wander down to where her hand clenches on my wrist, and I feel panic bubble up in my throat. As I talk I pull my hand away from her.

"Yeah I have. So excuse me." I walk past her up to the barbeque, and force myself not to look back.

"So... who's she?" I ask, trying to sound casual as I pick up a hot dog.

"Oh, Kathy? She's my sister's friend. Just moved in down the street. She's... she's just found out her soul-mate died, before they even met. She turned twenty six this year, and still couldn't find her soul-mate. One night she woke up screaming and crying, my sister went over, and she swears it was like the old stories of people taking off their necklaces. Absolutely awful. She didn't know what happened, but she couldn't hear her soul-mate anymore. The next morning she looked at the newspaper, saw the name and just knew it was her, Sophie Clamm. We can't mention her name in front of Kathy, there are some cases where it's driven people insane. So yeah, don't mention it around her." I feel my fear slip away, and guilt take its place.

"Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't know." I mumble, picking at the bun.

"It's alright." He shrugs, smiling at me. Harry's anger increases dramatically, and there's also a hint of hatred with sadness. I try and send calming and supportive feelings to him, hoping they aren't focused at me for fainting. I need to find him.

Excusing myself from Phil, I wander over to where Zayn chats with Dom and one of the James.

"Hey guys, have you seen Hannah and Harry anywhere?" I ask nochalantly.

"Oh, yeah. Hannah took him home because he was feeling sick."

"Hannah is such a bitch." Kate pipes up, poking her head out from behind Zayn, "Her soul-mate took their necklace off four years ago and so she's become obsessed with taking away other people's soul-mates. She doesn't even care about them, it's disgusting." She concludes. I would have felt sorry for Hannah, but in that moment I can only think of one thing.

Harry has left with Hannah.

She's going to try and take Harry away from me.


	3. Chapter 3

I tear up the slope, shouts from Zayn failing to pull me back. I grab the gate and yank it open, before carrying along the path to the road. A blue car is reversing, with Harry in the back. He's just woken up from fainting, his eyes bleary and unfocused. He leans forward to put his head in between the seats, and Hannah grabs his face before kissing him. Inside me, it feels as if a knife plunges into my stomach and twists painfully as I see her hands intwine in his hair.

Confusion dashes through the back of my mind, with a slip of attraction drenched in guilt, before complete outrage. He pulls quickly away from her, but it doesn't soften the blows that my heart creates against my ribs. The breath lodges in my throat and I throw myself forward, slamming my hands down on the bonnet of the car. Harry's eyes meet mine frantically and he begins to talk, but Hannah immediately slams her foot down on reverse.

"Harry!" I screech as the force causes me to roll off, and I watch in helplessness as she speeds away down the street. I had him. I _had_ him. My soul-mate. Harry. He was there, with me, I could almost touch him. The thoughts and emotions of my soul-mate finally had a face for me to call mine, and I was finally his. We should be together now, we should be with each other and be having our magical union.

But we aren't. I'm lying on the gritty road with no one here beside me. The tire tracks smell of burnt rubber and make my nose scrunch up. I pick myself up off the floor, determined not to let Hannah get away.

Walking back into the garden, I force myself to hold it together. The others continue to talk, but I catch worried looks from Rosie. I smile at her as I go back to them, and I see her eyes flick down at my body as I clamber down the slope. They widen dramatically, and she leaps up from her deck chair.

"I'll be back in a sec!" She calls behind her shoulder, and then rushes up to me.

"Belle, are you okay?"

"Yeah... Fine. I'm absolutely fine. And by the way, it's either Annie, Anna or Annabel. Not Belle."

"Oh, I'm sorry I just..."

"No, sorry that was rude, I just don't like the name,"

"It's alright, I understand. My name's actually Evangeline. I _hate_ it! So, once I started Secondary school, everyone called me Rosie. I said it was my middle name, but really it was the name of my favourite Barbie. Sorry, I don't know why I'm telling you this!" She laughs nervously.

"It's alright, I think it suits you anyway." She smiles sweetly at this, and I take her moment of vulnerability to cut straight in, "Rosie, Harry's my soul-mate. That's why I fainted, and then in the panic so did he, and now Hannah has taken him and I don't know what to do and I, I just, oh god please just help me, plea-"

"Hey, hey, hey!" She hushes quickly, pulling me into a hug. I try to breath steadily to force myself to calm down and keep the tears in my eyes, but with her arms around me it dawns on me how very alone I soon may be. "Look, it's alright, I can help you. She probably took him back to her house, I'll drive you over, and if she's not there, then I'll help you look for her, okay?" She pulls me back to study my reaction. This person I barely just met is comforting me and is going to help me find Harry. Relief floods through me, and I gush out thank you's.

"It's alright, come on," She says, pulling my wrist gently back up the slope. In the back of my mind, the single emotion almost forms words. He needs me. He needs me to help him.

I'm coming Harry.


	4. Chapter 4

We jump into the car and I yank the seat belt across my chest, before locking it into the clip. "Okay, let's go," She says, drumming her fingers on the wheel as she swings out of the driveway. She speeds slightly, but I don't care right now, I need to get there quickly.

Luckily for us, Hannah lives nearby, and we spot her blue car parked further along the road. As Rosie begins to stop the car, I unclip my seat belt and throw the door open before hurtling out of it. I regain my balance and she slams the breaks down, with a, "Jesus, Anna!" calling after me into the street. I sprint up to the door and pound my fists against the wooden surface, once, twice, thrice, before a woman answers it. Her piercing eyes fly across my face, and they narrow, her thin eyebrows creasing as she takes in my dishevelled appearance.

"Well?" She demands, leaning against the doorframe and blocking my way of entry.

"Hi Amanda!" Squeals Rosie, coming up from behind me and pinching my arm discreetly. "Is Hannah in?"

"Oh! Rosie! Of course, she's just upstairs, go ahead. Oh and you are?" She asks me, her face again becoming cold and fierce.

"This is Annabel, she's a uh... new girl. Can we quickly see Hannah please?"

"Of course, but... she's with her soulmate."

" _What_?!"I screech, before shoving Amanda aside and flying up the stairs. Panic floods through my whole mind, but I grind my teeth and force my eyes to keep focused. I hear muffled voices behind a door, and I slam it open. Behind it, Hannah sits cross legged on her bed, and Harry on her desk chair by the window.

Tears roll down his cheeks, and I feel my eyebrows crease. Nowhere in my brain can I feel sadness. My eyes flick to Hannah, and her face is one of complete shock and outrage.

"Get out of my room!" She yells. I glance over to Harry, and he avoids my gaze.

"Why did your mum say Harry is your soul-mate?" I ask her sharply, but my eyes remain on Harry. He looks out of the window gloomily, watching birds flitter across the landscape.

"She's not my mum! She's my Dad's sister's wife. She seems to think that I am heterosexual, and so bans me from seeing any boys apart from my soul-mate. It's just a ruse."

"Then why the hell did you kiss him?"

"I was trying to get you to back off! God, how can you be so _blind_?"

"Blind to what, may I ask?"

"Hmmm I dunno maybe the fact that everyone apart from Rosie, Kate and my mum know that my soul-mate _died_ four years ago, and I didn't want to never touch a human being again?"

"Just because you lost your soul-mate doesn't mean you need to steal mine!"

"He isn't your property! Jesus, he's a human being!"

"And so am I, and I have loved him for as long as I can remember, and if yours was still alive I'm sure you would love them!"

"You love me?" A quiet voice speaks up from the other side of the room. We fall silent and I turn to look at him, ashamed at my outbursts.

"Of course I do," I reply, trying to keep my voice level. His eyes turn to me full of disbelief, but in the back of my mind I can feel immense joy and happiness.

I shake my head and grab at it with my hands, confused by the conflicting emotions.

"I don't understand! How can you be crying and happy at the same time?" I demand, frustrated.

Hannah takes a deep breath, and wraps a hand around my wrist, a bit harder than she should have. Wincing slightly, I allow her to pull me forward to Harry.

"Touch him." She snaps in a monotone voice.

Tentatively, I bring my shaking fingers up to his cheek, and I stroke the smooth skin. I inhale sharply at the feelings.

It's as if a veil is lifted between my own emotions and his, and suddenly everything is much clearer and easier to understand, as if our brains are one, but I am able to sort through the different trains of thoughts, memories and wants for both of us. I feel my whole body, mind, and soul shift with this touch, and the world seems to grow just a bit brighter.

Emotions were in fact able to be hidden from each other all along, I was just never good at it, and also never truly wanted to. Now there's no chance. Our eyes meet and I feel that great swelling in my heart again, and my other hand cups his other cheek. He leans into my touch and closes his eyes, his tears slowly trickling down and onto the palm of my hand.

"I... I think the necklaces generate fake emotions." Hannah speaks up, and I feel myself being reluctantly interested in what she has to say.

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is... Everyone can hear their soul-mate, but when we try and hide things from them it creates fake emotions to hide these."

"I thought you were in love with someone else." Harry whispers, his voice cracking. I see the pain in his creased skin, the vulnerability of his closed yet slightly fluttering eyelids. I see the tear follow the familiar journey down the curve of his cheek, and I sigh for him.

"How could you think that?" I ask one hand rubbing his neck. His eyes open, the green shimmers of emerald meeting my own accusingly.

"Earlier on guilt and attraction,"

"Yeah okay, but you gotta admit Zayn is good looking-"

"Agreed." Pipes up Hannah.

"But, that doesn't mean anything. It's like when Hannah kissed you," I force myself to form the next words, "And you felt a bit of attraction and guilt then. It's just natural, human behaviour, and completely understandable. And anyway, even if I did find Zayn attractive, he's not you. I knew from when I saw you that it was you, it will always be you Harry." He frowns and chews on his lip, before casting his eyes down to his fumbling hands. My hands fall from his face, and I immediately feel the effect. The veil is draped back down, and although I can now feel his emotions clearer, and just snippets of some thoughts, it's no longer as great. I sigh, and turn round to see Hannah. She stands by the door, her arms cradling her chest, a few tears brimming in her eyes. She stares ahead and I can almost feel the pain emmitting off of her.

"Okay." Harry murmurs, and I feel my body sag with relief. "I... I love you too."

"I know," I giggle, tapping my finger lightly against the tip of his nose. He smiles shyly at me from beneath his lashes, and I feel my whole body quiver at his immense beauty.

"So that's it then? You swoop in and take away the person I love?" Hannah asks in a monotone voice, her eyes dead as she watches us rise.

"Hannah, I'm so sorry, I'm so so sorry, I know I thought Anna had been with someone else for two years, but now being with her, and seeing all her memories, I know it was her trying to keep her emotions down and not to hurt me. I know this must be hard for you, Han, I really do, and I'm so sorry that it had to be me to cause you this pain, and although I love Annabel with all my heart, I will always love you as much as I always have, as a sister and nothing more. I know you have had feelings for me, but ever since last week when I was told by Kate that your soul-mate died, it was the final proof that we weren't. I know nothing ever really happened between us, but we did still create a good bind and relationship, and I don't want this to ruin that."

"Just go." She whispers, choking on the words in her throat. She climbs onto her bed, and Rosie sits down on the edge of it. Hannah curls up into a tight ball and lets the tears take over her. Harry hesitates, but Kate shakes her head sadly at him. She smiles weakly at me, but then turns her head and strokes Hannah's hair.

I feel Harry's fingers thread through mine, and once again I'm met with the dizzying feeling of the complete clearness in my mind.

"Come on, Annie, let's go," He whispers into my ear, and despite the whole situation with Hannah, I feel a delicate shiver run up and down my spine as his deep voice fills my ear.

We leave the house wordlessly, passing our thoughts through our minds.

_I love you Annie forever_

He thinks.

_I love you too Harry I love you I love you I love you_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, brain lesson here  
> Apparently when humans think they think without punctuation and sentence breaks, it's all just one follow on from another  
> When expressing thoughts I will do them as separate paragraphs and in Italics, with no punctuation at all, and will generally beneath say "I think" or "He thinks" just so it's more clear and easier to understand :)


	5. Chapter 5

We stay in silence until we step into the cooling air. It awakens the nerves on my skin and I feel the hairs rise up on my arms and the back of my neck.  
Harry rubs my forefinger with his thumb. A strand of hair that had slipped out of my bun flies around my face, and Harry tucks it behind my ear. This should feel natural, and I should feel relaxed, but despite myself, my body tenses.  
He can hear my thoughts, feel what I am feeling. His hand slips out from mine.  
"Harry?"  
"Yeah?" He asks, turning to me. His eyes are slightly red, but at least the tears have stopped now. He looks away.  
"Uh... Happy birthday for yesterday," I say awkwardly, not wanting to talk about feelings. He opens his mouth as if to say something, and his eyes turn back to me. For a split second we just stare at each other, uncertainty clear on his face and in the back of my mind.  
When suddenly his mouth opens wide and he barks out a laugh, stepping back and leaning down as he does so. I join in on his laughter, the hilarity of the situation increasing with the double emotions. He staggers forward through the laughter and slings an arm around my shoulders casually.  
"Oh Annie..." He sighs, wiping his eyes. "This is so messed up," I agree with a hum and I rest my head on his comforting shoulder. "Hey your car's at Phil's house, right?" He asks, as we begin to walk down to the road together.  
"Yeah, why?"  
"I want to take you somewhere." He pulls away as he says this, and I feel myself leaning forward with a whine. "Hey hey hey! It's supposed to be a surprise!" He chuckles indignantly.  
"Fine," I groan, and walk with a distance of about a metre between us. I try and stay determined to keep up the act, but my whole body screams at me to just rush back to him, hug him and then never let go.  
"Ah ah ah! Don't come near me!" He exclaims as I begin to rush back over.  
"But... But!"  
"No buts, this has to be a surprise," He winks, before kneeling down and picking up a stick. "Here." He says, standing back up and holding out one side of the stick. Smiling at him, I hold onto the other side of the stick, and we walk down the street together, both of our arms outstretched and joint by a piece of wood. He walks on the pavement, towering over me, and I walk along the road. We both pull equally on our side of the stick, a perfect balance of each force.  
After about ten minutes of slow, silent walking, we arrive back at Phil's house. Neither of us let go of the stick. We stand centimetres apart with it clasped in our hands.  
I unlock my car, and I finally release my grip on the wood. Flakes of bark are pressed into my skin and I wipe them off against my jeans, faint imprints still denting my palm.  
We climb inside, and I wait for him to do up his seat belt before revving the engine.  
"Okay, I'm going to direct us to a place I've wanted to show you since I've been about five. Ready?" He asks me. I nod.  
I reply. "Ready,"


	6. Chapter 6

"Alright, now wait here." Harry says as he unclips his seat belt and shoves the passenger door open.

I look up at his house. The canary yellow paint makes it look like something out of a fairy tale, along with a white picket fence with bushes filled with budding flowers behind it, and a vine swirling up and over the doorframe, small pink flowers blossoming in the twisting greenery. He turns the key into the door and enters, and I catch a small glimpse of a doorway with smooth floorboards and creamy wallpaper. I resist the urge to fly out after him and explore his house.

After five minutes, he charges out of his house, a large bag and picnic blanket in his arms. He kicks the door shut behind him and jogs back to the car. I swing round in my seat to watch him dump the stuff on the pavement and open the boot, blocking my view. He shoves the items in and then slams the boot shut, before climbing back into the car.

"Okay, now I'm seriously getting worried. Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise!" He chuckles, leaning over and lightly kissing my cheek. My whole insides grow fuzzy, and I start the engine with a smile on my face.

***

"No left! Left!" He yells, and I quickly indicate and swerve down the rumbling lane. It's now nearly eight o'clock, and the sun has just begun to dip behind the trees and flash through every few seconds. "Alright... now go up that hill there." We continue up, "Okay, and stop!" I shut off the engine and peer around.

"Harry, where the hell are we? This looks to me like the middle of nowhere."

"Exactly!" He grins excitedly, and then leaps out of the car. He spins around with his arms outstretched and breaths in deeply. "God it smells so fresh out here!"

I chuckle to myself as I get out of the car, and I too take a deap breath. He's right.

Back in the town the air smells so fake, so oppressive, but up here, it smells of freedom and of life.

I run over to him and he lifts me up in his arms. My legs wrap around his waist and I clutch his face with a shriek as he begins to quickly spin around, his hands clutching the underside of my thighs.

I throw my head back from laughter at his manic face, and he joins in with me as he comes to a dizzy stop. We sway slightly with his off-balance, and I rest my forehead against his. Everything is silent save for the distant chirping of a bird and the thrumming of crickets.

"Come on, we better get set up," He says as he lets me down. I lunge and grab his arm as I stagger slightly, and he wraps an arm around my shoulder, then escorts me back to the car. I throw my own around his waist and I rest my head against his side.

He pulls me to the trunk and opens it with an eyebrow raise to me. He pulls out the basket and bag and sets them down on the ground.

"Well?" I ask, and he grins mischievously at me.

I watch as he spins around, pulling various items out and then dissapearing into the forest.

"Uh... Harry?" I call out, as he leaves me for the fifth time, "Do you need any help?"

"No!" He yells back sharply, "Sorry, no I'm good thanks, it's supposed to be a surprise," Great now I'm itching to just charge in to the trees after him.

He returns for the last time and hauls up the basket. "Oh, by the way, we're staying over night, so I'd tell your mum now... If there's a signal that is." He smirks evily and then bounds away leaving me calling after him. Darn.

I whip my phone out and check along the top. One bar.

"Well what should I tell her?" I ask as he returns to collect me.

"I dunno she's your mum! Just tell her you found your soul-mate and you're never ever ever going to come home again because we're so madly in love that we're going to elope." He finishes, giving me a cheeky smile.

"Not helping!" I half laugh half shout, swatting him on the arm lightly. He grabs my wrist lightly and pulls me to his body. His arms wrap around mine and I let myself melt into his embrace. Emotions and thoughts flow into and out of my body, like a constant electric current. I close my eyes and just let go, allowing my whole body to relax and just listen to the information.

"Annie?" He murmurs.

"Mhhmmm?" I hum back, burrowing my head into his shirt.

"Your mum?" My eyes fly open and I pull back from him, grimacing from the sudden disconnection of thoughts.

"Shit." I mutter as I unlock my phone.

 

_Having a sleepover with a girl I met at the party. Will be back tomorrow. No need to worry, she'll drive me home._

I tap my toe as the "Sending" screen appears.

"Done!" I trill as "Sent" appears, and I slide it back into my back pocket.

Harry grins at me, and I can't help but suddenly feel shy of him. He towers above me, his whippy hair gleaming around the edges in the setting sun, his eyes wide and honest.

I open my mouth to say something, but a scream leaves instead as he swoops down, grabs my waist, and then slings me over his shoulder. One am holds the back of my knees and the other on my body. I scrabble at his back and he bellows with laughter, the stacetto sound rebounding off the trees.

I'm oddly reminded of when Shrek "rescues" Fiona and carries her through the wood.

Harry begins to walk and I bob up and down. There's no point in resisting. Instead, I loll down on his back and watch my hands dangle above the ground, smiling at the spray of brown leaves that rise into the air after every step.

"Alright, here!" He lifts me off his shoulder and puts me down on the ground. His head hangs low, just inches from my face. Neither of us move; we just stare into each others eyes.

No matter how romantic it may seem, I find myself growing awkward after a short amount of time.

"Uh, Harry?" I quesiton and then nod down to my waist.

"Oh, God, sorry!" He practically yelps, and pulls his hands away. I feel a dash of embarrassment in the back of my mind. I unsuccessfully hide my smile.

"Right, so what are we doing here? Whatever we are doing, it better be done quick, it's getting dark."

"All in good time, my fair maiden!" He answers in an overly posh accent. He swoops around the ground, gathering various things, and tells me to turn my back.

Sighing exasperatedly, although I know he can feel my excitement, I do as he commands.

"Okay, ready!" He calls out after a good five minutes. I turn around and feel a smile break across my face.

Two sleeping bags lie next to each other with a mat under each one and a fluffed up pillow resting on top. A small pyramid of sticks lies about half a metre from the top of the sleeping bags, ready to be lit. Two piles of folded up, snug pyjama bottoms are on each sleeping bag, along with two thick black jumpers and a pair of fluffy socks each.

"I've been planning this for a while, our first date," He smiles shyly, flicking his eyes from my own to the ground. He shuffles his feet. I feel a surge of unbelievable adoration of him, and I try and refrain from grabbing his face and kissing every different part of it. Instead I walk over slowly to him, trail my hand down his forearm to his hand and slip my finger through his own, and then rub my nose against his.

"It's perfect, Harry," He steps back and picks up my clothes, and then chucks them to me. "Alright, no looking now!" He laughs and dramatically turns around, covering his face with both hands. I quickly rip off my clothes. As the cool air hits my exposed skin, goosebumps leap up and my whole body begins to violently shake. I quickly through the top over my head and yank on the trousers, before pulling on the hoodie and slipping on the socks. The clothes have done little to slow the shaking.

"Okay, done," I call out, pushing my hands into the opposite sleeves. He smiles warmly at me before grabbing his own clothes.

"If I wasn't allowed to look, then neither are you!" He exclaims, batting his hand at me. I mock groan, and turn around, staring out into the darkening trees.

I hear the sounfd of his belt clicking and the swishing of his trousers slipping off his legs, and I manage to restrain myself until I can hear him yanking up his pyjama bottoms.

However, at the sound of him pulling his top of from over his head, I can't help but turn around and look.

The muscles in his back ripple as his arms twist frantically above his head, his shirt stuck on neck. I let out a bark of laughter, and he spins around, shouting indignantly.

"Sorry, what's that?" I ask as he lets out a rumble of muffled yells. He thrashes with his top, and I can't help but suck in my breath at his chest. He has a faint six pack, his figure one that is tall and lean. Tattoos cover his torso like various sketches of an artist. He is beautiful.

He finally manages to pull it off his head, and then balls up the top and throws it at me. He acts angry, but the smile on his face never leaves.

His arms wrap around his chest as he too begins to shiver.

"Come on," I laugh, stepping forward and passing him his top and jumper. He quickly throws them on, and then pulls up the socks.

"So then, was your plan for our first date one where we were going to freeze to death? Because although Romeo And Juliet is romantic, the double death at the end certainly isn't."

"Oh, trust me, Annabel. This first date is going to be the best night you'll ever have, ever. And not because you're not going to have any more nights after tonight! A true gentleman never lets his lady die when he's supposed to be entertaining her. No, no, no. You'll be totally in love with me forever after tonight."

"Am I not already totally in love with you?"

"Of course, but all your love for me will be tripled, trust me."


	7. Chapter 7

My teeth chatter together, and he beckons me to the floor.

"Get into bed!" He says, his whole body quivering excitedly.

I crawl into the sleeping bag and yank it up to my chin, my legs curling up at the same time to try and preserve body heat. He clambers into his own and props himself up on his arms. His deft fingers strike a match, and he stretches to place it against the newspaper and kindling. The flames ignite and begin to crack and pop the wood, sparks billowing into the air before fading out into the blackness. The soft glow emits heat and I stretch my neck out to try and warm up my face.

I rest my head on my folded hands and just watch the roaring flames. My eyes blur from not blinking, the oranges and yellows creating a kaleidoscope in my vision.

I hear Harry sigh and roll onto his side. I turn my head and smile at him sleepily. He lies curled up, his hands clutching the top of the sleeping bag to his chin.

"I'm so tired," I murmur, stifling a yawn. He lets out a short bark of laughter.

"You're _tired_? It's not even seven yet!"

"Yeah well, it’s been quite a busy day," I reply defensively.

"You've got that right. But still, you better not fall asleep on me, Annie, I've got too much stuff planned for us."

"Such as?"

"Marshmallows!" He yells, a massive grin on his face. I feel myself chuckle at his child-like attitude to everything, and I watch him protectively as he slips out of his sleeping bag and grab the basket I had thought to be empty. Harry places it next to his pillow so he will no longer have to get out of his sleeping bag. He leaps back in and loudly shivers as he rifles through the basket. He pulls out two bags with an "Aha!" and chucks me a pack.

I rip open the bag with glee, inhaling the sweet scent. Harry picks a stick up from the ground and brushes away the top layer of dirt.

"Uh... Harry... Tell me you brought sticks to eat these."

"Of course not! I always just use sticks off the ground,"

"But... But that's so gross..." I reply, frowning worriedly at the ground around me. We are silent for a second as he studies my face with disbelievement, before he rolls onto his back and howls with laughter.

"Hey! This isn't funny!" I shout over his laughter, swatting his arm lightly. "Harry, stop laughing at me!"

"Sorry, sorry I jus-" He is cut off by his own mirthless laughter. I roll my eyes half in amusement, half in irritation. I pick up my own stick and blow away the dirt, before stabbing four marshmallows onto the end. They bunch up and begin to slowly expand out again as I plunge them into the fire.

Harry regains control of his laughter and looks at my marshmallows. "You've got four?" He yelps opening his mouth wide and making the strangest face. He then collapses into laughter again. I shake my head at him.

"You are literally as mature as my cousin. He's four by the way,"

"Oh Annabel, how you spite me so with your fierce words, it feels like a dagger is being pushed into my stomach with every cruel utterance that leaves your poisonous mouth."

"Harry, shut up!" I half laugh half shout. Despite my annoyance at his teasing, his hyperness creeps in from the back of my mind until it's completely taken over me. I pull my arm back as it begins to ache and I blow gently on my marshmallows. I begin to bite them, stringy white goo stretching from the centre and sticking to my lips.

"I can't believe you took _four_." He says, shaking his head at me.

"They're delicious," I answer, sticking my tongue out at him.

***

"Uno!" I cry out, slamming the yellow three down on top of Harry's green three.

"What?" He yells, frantically fanning out his own deck. I burst out with laughter at his massive wodge. We have been playing for the past hour and a half, eating marshmallows and sipping hot chocolate from our own flasks, and not once has Harry one. We've been playing the way that if you can't put anything down you have to keep picking up until you can, and Harry has managed to accumulate at least three quarters of the pack. All that remains of my own pack is a red +2.

“Right… I’m going to play this one then.” He grumbles, and slaps down a yellow +2. I whoop as I put my own plus two down, but he tuts, hope shining in his eyes.

“Not so fast, Annabel, I still have a plus two.” He triumphantly places a third plus two down and I grudgingly pick up six cards.

Within five minutes I’m calling uno.

It takes less than thirty seconds for me to win with a green seven.

“You’re cheating,” He strops, gathering all the cards up and shuffling them.

“Please, you just can’t face it that I’m a better Uno player than you are,”

“You are not,”

“Harry, I just beat you in over ten games straight, just admit it!”

“I was going easy on you!”

“Oh please, if anything it was the other way around.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes, really!”

“Fine then, I call a rematch!”

“Well then I accept your advance and I will beat you, once and for all!”

“Don’t be so sure about that, Annabel, you’re about to see the Uno-crazed side to me.”

***

Unsurprisingly, I beat Harry again.

“For goodness sake!” He yelps as I place down my last card with a smug smile. I do a little victory dance as he grabs the cards and shoves them back in the pack. “Yeah, yeah, dance all you want. At least I’m polite enough to allow people the joy of winning.”

“Harry, you didn’t _allow_ me to win!”

“Course I did, by being crap at the game!” I giggle and gently shove his arm, before randomly bumping and rubbing my nose against his.

“Oh, um. I’m sorry.” I stammer as I pull away. Why the fuck did I even do that?

“Don’t apologise. I think you’re adorable and just lovely.” He murmurs, cupping my cheek with his hand. Our thoughts are the same and blur together, no distinction between the two of us. Utter devotion, desire, love and wonder. My own hand gently trails up his face and slides into his curly hair; I smile as my fingers scratch against small twigs and shreds of leaves entangled in the messy mop. As my hand reaches the back of his head, I slowly and softly pull his head towards me, and his own hand curls around the back of my neck and also starts to close the gap.

Somehow managing not to ruin the mood, we both shimmy forward in our sleeping bags. Our eyes stay on each other yet we are unable to keep them from flitting down to the other’s lips. His own are slightly parted and dry, and as I think this his tongue flicks out like a cat’s and wets them. The forefinger of his other hand presses against my lips as if keeping me quiet, and he tilts his head. His lips press softly against my cheek before he pulls away.

‘ _Our first kiss needs to be perfect, Annabel, nothing less. Although this is going as planned, lying on the floor is probably not the best possible place for it_.’

Well crap if he hasn’t ruined the mood for me now. Anger swells in my chest, but is still tainted with lust.

I quickly stand up, hauling him up with me. He stumbles slightly and looks at me dumbfounded.

‘ _You big idiot, Harry, anywhere is perfect as long as I’m with you_.’ I think as I hold his face in both hands. Even though he stands tall above me, that doesn’t mean I can’t be dominant. He stands stupidly with his hands hanging at his sides, his eyes flicking back and forth between my left and right.

I rise up on my tip toes and pull his face down, trying not to be too rough with him, but still unable to control my feelings towards him.

I hesitate as our lips are close enough for me to feel the heat coming off of his, and I hear his one plain thought which throws me over the edge.

‘ _I love you, my soul-mate_.’

I close the gap between us.

His lips move against mine perfectly, as if ours were fashioned to be a pair. He keeps his head lowered to allow me to guide us through it, and half way through he wraps his arms around my back. As he embraces me and we turn into the kiss more, I make my lips more delicate against his, and he does the same. No longer is it a passionate kiss between two lust filled teenagers, at this moment in time it is one displaying the uttermost devotion we have for each other as two people that were created to be together.

We both pull back at the same time, and his hands cup my face. We stand breathless, lost in each other’s eyes, and I feel a giggle rise in my chest.

“I love you too, soul-mate,” I whisper. He leans forward and buries his nose into my hair, inhaling the apple shampoo smell. My arms wrap around his waist as his own cradle me protectively, and I press the side of my face against his chest, his racing heartbeat like a drum in my ear.

This time, I don’t feel awkward at all, as if this is the most natural thing in the world.

I try and supress my yawn, but Harry chuckles under his breath and pulls back.

“Okay, I think it’s just acceptable to be tired at this time,” He laughs, before dropping his arms from my body and stepping towards his sleeping bag. I shudder at the loss of contact and thoughts. It’s unnerving.

As his body’s heat is taken away, I feel the sting of the air again and I quickly curl back up into my sleeping bag. We snuggle into them and both turn on our sides to face each other.

“Night, Harry,” I mumble, closing my eyes as sleep welcomes me. He replies but I’m too tired to hear. I try and ask him to repeat it but I find it too hard to form the words.

His hand presses against my cheek.

‘ _I said I love you and sweet dreams_.' He tells me to my drifting thoughts.

I’m not sure if I dreamt that message or not because with him not taking away his hand after he thought it to me, my dreams wrap around nothing but Harry.

We both fall to sleep at the exact same time.

His hand stays against my cheek.


	8. Chapter 8

I blearily open my eyes, expecting to be met with my wall, lit up by the morning light. However, instead I see utter blackness. The air around me is chilly, and my breath mists in front of me. Panic sets in and I sit upwards, allowing my eyes to adjust to the darkness. It doesn’t help much. I turn around and see the remnants of a fire, the once roaring flames reduced to a few glowing embers. My breath comes in shot gasps, and I wait for my brain, groggy and slow from sleep, to catch up with myself. I look up to the sky, but tree branches block out the little light the moon offers.

My fingers stretch out across my main source of heat, and I curl them into the material. A sleeping bag. All at once, images of the night flash through my mind. The snug jumper. A fire. Marshmallows. Uno. My first kiss. Harry. _Harry._ My head snaps around the ground until I see his faint outline, his body rising and falling with his deep, heavy breathing. I chuckle to myself as he murmurs in his sleep incoherent words, yet my laughter seems out of place in the quiet forest, as if I’m intruding on the sinister peace. My body shivers, and not just from the nippy air.

Lowering myself back down, I snuggle into my sleeping bag, teeth chattering. I close my eyes and wait for sleep to welcome me back into her arms, but horrifying images keep flashing through my mind. Damn my imagination.

Embedded in my eyelids, the image of a man holding a knife, ready to stab me, haunts my mind and I feel myself tense up with fear. I should wake up Harry, but he’ll probably tell me to just go back to sleep, tell me I’m being silly, maybe even get angry at me. If there’s one thing I’ve learnt from sharing emotions with him is that he can flare up with anger as quickly as fire on petrol, however he always cools down like a freshly tempered blade plunged into icy water.

I cover my face, trying to block out the fearsome images, when I hear a soft whimpering. Ears picking up, I imagine an injured puppy to come hobbling in from a nearby tree, but the sound seems to be coming from… Harry?

I watch him for a while, the whines getting more and more strained, until the mumbled words become strong as if he’s saying them to someone. “Stop, stop it please!” He begs. I can’t feel any emotions he’s conveying, but of course I can’t, he’s dreaming.

“Harry… Harry, wake up, love,” I call out over his voice. He continues to cry out, oblivious to my attempts to rouse him.

As soon as I hear the choking sound in his voice from tears, and see his body shake in the little light there is, I decide to take action. Crawling forward, I place my palm against his cheek, attempting to talk to him through his mind and awaken him.

The only thing is, is that thoughts don’t channel one way.

Caught between reality and Harry’s dream, I feel my whole body freeze, and I’m unable to move, unable to think for myself. A hazy, flickering image of a woman stands before me, snide insults sliding from her mouth like poisonous gas. I can’t make out what she’s saying, she seems to be talking in some strange language, but from her body language and facial expression, I can feel her hatred for me. She pulls her arm up above her, and despite my mental struggling, I’m unable to move. Where did she come from? Who is she? Her arm lowers, about to strike me, and she seems to move in slow motion. A whip cracks in the air like a snake, and I feel a blood curling scream rip from my throat.

This, at last, awakens Harry. He lurches forward, arms shaking as they hold up his weight, back muscles clenched tensely. I curl up into a ball and try to remind myself it was just a dream.

But why? Why did Harry dream of such horrific things? And why that woman?

His shoulders rack, and I hear the muffled sobs escaping his body. I lift myself up, forcing myself not to think about what just happened to me, and focus on the real issue here. Harry. Sweet, gorgeous Harry, whom right now needs me.

I wrap my arms around his back and rest my head against his shoulder blade.

“Harry, you’re boiling. You need to take your jumper off.”

I’m met with silence. I count ten seconds, and then I decide to take it off for him. He allows me to, but he is limp and doesn’t help. He just stares straight ahead.

I know words aloud won’t reach him, so I wrap my arms around his torso.

His white T-Shirt clings this skin with sweat, and I lift my hand up to wipe his damp curls away from his clammy forehead. Tucking a few strands behind his ears, my other hand rubs his back soothingly.

 _“Are you alright?”_ I think to him.

Ten seconds pass.

“ _No.”_

Relieved to at least have gotten an answer from him, I feel a spark of hope that he might cooperate.

“ _How can I help you?”_

No reply.

“ _What happened Harry?”_

This one he replies to immediately, “ _I can’t tell you. At least not yet.”_

_“That’s fine, whenever you’re ready.”_

No answer.

“ _Harry… I did see a bit of your dream… That woman, who was she?”_

His whole body tenses up beneath me, and I feel my breath begin to hitch.

“ _Harry?”_

“Leave me alone!” He bellows aloud, ripping himself from my embrace. He pushes me away and shifts his body so he faces towards me, but he keeps his head low. I feel his anger build, but I resist it from tainting my own thoughts. I know he isn’t angry at me, I can feel the source of his anger comes from pain, loneliness and broken memories.

Neither of us move. I open my mouth hesitantly, but can’t think of anything to say.

A whole minute passes before I feel his anger begin to rapidly subside. He sighs deeply and glances up through his lashes.

The anger is completely replaced by guilt, and an implacable feeling of sadness.

“I… I’m so sorry, Annie. I didn’t mean to take it out on you, I just…” He sighs with irritation and runs a hand through his hair.

“Hey, it’s fine. Honestly.” He meets my gaze, and his face crumples. Crawling forward, he slumps against me, his head buried into my neck. Fresh tears dampen the skin there, and I rest my head on his, my arms wrapping around him. “Shhh…shhhh…. It’s okay. You’re safe here.”

He nods, and lifts his head up. He places a light kiss on my cheek, thinking, “ _Thank you,”_ as they touch, and I blush.

“I’m just so tired, Annie. Can we go to sleep?” I nod, stroking his arm. “I have an idea.” With heavy, slow movements, he gets up and unzips his sleeping bag. “Squish up,” He orders, and I press myself against the edge of my sleeping bag. He clambers in next to me, uses his legs to lift our sleeping bag, and places his underneath. He then yanks it up, and does up the zip. I burrow into his chest, and he wraps his arms around my waist. My own curl around his stomach, and before too long, we both drift off, bouncing the words, “ _I love you,_ ” back and forth between our minds.


	9. Chapter 9

 

The next time I wake up, I'm soaked in dew. No matter how breath taking the night sky is without a tent, or how romantic it is to sleep beneath the stars, the dew is a massive con. My face is dripping with the cool liquid, and I wipe the water out of my eyes. Sighing, I throw my head back against my pillow. The sunlight is only just peeking through the trees, and my alarm hasn't gone off yet, so it must be pretty early. I roll over and come nose to nose with Harry. His eyes are closed, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. I smile to myself and snuggle into his chest, allowing myself these few precious minutes with him.

My fingers stroke against his chest through the T shirt, and I hear a rumble of content come from deep in his throat, as if he was a purring cat. I pull my fingers back and crane my neck to look up at him. His eyes remain closed, but there's a faint smile on his lips, "Mmmm, don't stop," He mumbles, his voice crackly with sleep. I feel my stomach turn at the deep vibrations of his chest, but I push down the need to kiss him roughly, and instead continue to dance my fingers on his stomach and chest. His arms slowly wrap around me, our legs already entwined from the night. Harry draws tiny circles at the small of my back, working further and further up my spine, causing me to shiver delicately.

My arms curl up behind his back, my hands coming over the top of his shoulders. I trail my fingers lightly along the base of his neck, as his own thread through my hair. We remain still, only our fingers softly stroking each other.

"What time is it?" I murmur against his chest, my voice muffled by him, but he can hear my thoughts anyway.

"No clue. Check your phone." I groan, and he smirks at me. I stick my tongue out, and then crawl out of the sleeping bed. If not for the dew, I would have slid along the ground to get to my bag, but instead I stand up, taking groggy, uncoordinated steps.

After retrieving my phone, I jump back into the sleeping bag, nestling into Harry's arms and shivering from the early morning air. Holding my phone close to my face, I press the centre button. A shriek escapes me as I view the catastrophe before my eyes.

**Seventeen missed calls - Mum**

**Nine missed calls - Laura**

**Mum - WHERE ARE YOU?**

**Mum - I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU WOULD GO OUT OF THE HOUSE ...**

**Mum - IF YOU DON'T REPLY BEFORE MORNING, I'M CALLING TH...**

**Laura - Annabel this isnt funny u need to answer mum now**

**Mum - Annie for gods sake it's half twelve where are you?**

**Mum - Are you lost?**

**Laura - Annabel where r u**

**Alex - Hey cus your mum asked me to tell you to call her**

**Aunt Flo - Anna mum needs you to call her**

**Mum - Call me when you get this**

**Mum - Annie?**

**Mum - Where are you? Dinner's ready**

**Mum - Text me the address to the bbq**

**Mum - How's the barbeque?** **Mum - Anything you need from the shops?**

"Shit! Oh fuck," I hiss, unlocking my iPhone. I hit "Dial" on my mum's number, and chew my fingernails. I need to talk to her to explain, but I also don't want to face her wrath.

She picks up on the last ring, "Annie? Annabel?" Her voice is cracked and thick from tears, she sounds almost dead.

"Mum! I'm so sorry, I thought I texted you saying I was sleeping over at a friend's house!"

"No, you didn't Annie. I'm too tired to talk about this now, but you're safe?"

"Yes." I hear her sigh deeply, and then murmur something to someone else in the room. I hear a girl crying softly in there, and then a laugh mixed with a groan of frustration.

"I hope you realise what you put your sister and myself through. Call next time, don't text."

"Okay, I'm sorry."

"Don't think you've been let off lightly, by the way, as soon as I've slept enough to think I will-" She breaks off as she yawns, and then continues on, her voice even thicker with fatigue, "I will think up a punishment. For now, you can make your own way home, so long as you're back before twelve." She hangs up on me before I can say another word, and I sigh with relief at how easy that was compared to what I was thinking.

Although she says she'll think of a punishment later, she'll have probably forgiven me by then anyway.

"I thought you texted her?"

"So did I..." I murmur, before looking in my sent items.

Sure enough, the text is there. But then I see the person I sent it out. I let out a loud yelp.

_Marcia Crimson_

Of course, only I could send a text meant for my mum to _the_ most popular girl in my year, hell maybe even my whole school. Everyone knows who she is, everyone wants to be her friend, and no one who isn't should _ever_ text her. She just likes to give people her number, a way of manipulating them and making them feel as if they can't text her, according to Laura.

Harry just laughs at me, shaking his head at my thoughts.

 _"Shut up,"_ I think to him, which of course only makes him laugh harder. Despite knowing I will have to face the consequences later of both texting Marcia and not texting my mum, I allow myself to be lost in the moment with Harry,  because of course, I'll deal with it all later. For now, I'm allowed to be with my soul-mate.


	10. Chapter 10

A crackling sound fills the air as Harry pours oil onto a frying pan, held over a small fire.

I absentmindedly flick through the photos of me and my friends, smiling at our giggling faces.

"What's so funny?" He asks me, looking up from behind the fire.

"Oh... Nothing, just looking at some photos on my phone of me and my friends."

"Friends?"

"Uh... yeah?"

"I just... I, sorry, didn't think you had any," He says sheepishly, and I feel myself frown.

"What makes you think that?"

"You feel lonely. All the time. And sad during school. Apart from after school... I always guessed you were with someone, as in _with_ someone," I open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out, "Of course I know you never were, after hearing your thoughts I know you at least have been faithful forever." He adds hurriedly, his eyes cast down.

"I... I'm not lonely, Harry, I mean sure, everyone has those odd days when they feel ignored, but I love my friends, have you never felt me feel happiness at school?"

"No... Not really."

There's a long silence while we both mull over what each other has said.

Then it hits me.

Harry said something just then which I didn't process then, but I certainly do now.

His eyes flick up and meet mine as he feels my surge of pain, his eyes brimming with tears.

We both speak at the same time.

"Harry, what did you mean when you said 'you at least have been faithful'"

"Annie, I'm so sorry, it... it wasn't my fault!"

Silence falls.

I blink several times at him, my vision suddenly blurring.

His eyes plead with mine but I can't even look at him.

"Annie, you have to believe me on this, it wasn't my fault!"

I just nod my head stiffly, wringing my hands on my lap. He stands up, walks over and then squats down in front of me.

"I was in a difficult time. My cousin had just died in a car accident, and I thought that you had been with someone else for a year... there were times I hated myself, because I felt anger at you, but then I loved you so much that I turned on myself. I started... acting out. I went to parties, got drunk every night, I stopped studying, my life was a mess. I thought... I thought you hated me."

"Why?"

"Well, I always felt feelings of disappointment from you, especially when I was drinking. Recently I've been cleaning up my act just to make you feel better. The person I was with... we didn't even do anything," He blushes, "I... I'm still a virgin."

I sigh, not caring if they had sex or not, "Do you love her?"

"What? No! No, of course not! I was completely drunk... it was Hannah. I'm sorry, we were both drunk, and I found her crying. She wouldn't tell me what it was about, but it was the three year anniversary of her soul mate's death and she wouldn't stop crying, and so I kissed her."

I take a steadying breath, trying to process it all. I do understand. But it still hurts.

"I can't really remember how long it lasted, but I remember not liking it much. Hannah has always been like a sister to me, and seeing her that upset flipped me out, especially when no matter what I said, she wouldn't tell me what was wrong. I think that's when she first developed feelings for me, and no matter how hard I tried to put her off of me, nothing worked."

"Harry, from what you've told me, it isn't that bad... And I'm grateful that you told me. I just... I don't know if I can trust you or her when you're around each other." He nods, lowering his head with shame.

"I understand. Thank you for listening to me, I love you so, so much." I lift his chin with my fingers, and search for a hint of a lie in his eyes. I'm hit with his thoughts, the full scale guilt, self hatred and love for me, it almost leaves me reeling. Even though he wasn't faithful to me, we didn't properly know each other at the time, and he didn't do it to hurt me on purpose, he was looking out for a friend.

I lean forward and place a kiss on his cheek. As I pull away, I feel his regret in my mind.

 _"Baby steps,"_ I think to him.

I lean back, and he rocks on his heels. I try to shake the feeling away, but I can't get rid of this feeling of unease.

"Hannah, she said before she thinks the necklaces create thoughts when we try and supress our true thoughts." He says slowly, glancing up to me, "Do you think that's where I got these lonely thoughts of yours, and fake lust for someone?"

I think about it; I have been supressing a lot of thoughts, but I never imagined the necklace would create substitute thoughts. I have been doing it a lot, but I only ever did it to protect Harry, "I always thought I was sending you supportive thoughts, if I ever thought you were getting worried about me or angry about something. I guess I was trying to supress my own emotions, so it created these other ones up instead. Whenever you're drinking, it also seems to affect me, so I always tried to send you thoughts to cut back a bit, but I guess you can't properly do that until you're bonded, or like Zayn and Dom." I sigh; what a huge mess. We barely met 24 hours ago, and already I'm having doubts about us.

His eyes darken and he looks up at me, horror struck. "Annie, please, it was stupid of me, but I love you more than anything or anyone, please don't leave me."

"Harry, I won't leave you. I promise. I love you too, even if you don't love yourself that much. I just think that we need some bonding time. This trip has been perfect, absolutely wonderful, and there's no one I'd rather do it with. But, I think we need a real sit down and talk, find out interests, favourite films, music tastes, preferred parties, things like that, and then organise dates based on what we learn." His face breaks into a serene smile, and I can feel him restrain himself from kissing me right there and then.

I lean forward and brush my lips against his, and he doesn't respond. As our lips come into contact, I can hear him telling himself not to kiss me back, to give me space, and for that I'm grateful.

"I've kind of lost my appetite, do you want anything to eat?" I shake my head and give him a weak smile. "Well then, we better get back." He rises, and holds out his hand. I grasp it and he pulls me to my feet. My heart wrenches as I hear his hateful words to himself, and he pulls his hand from my grasp, not wanting me to know how much he despises himself. I don't know what to say, I just walk to the car in silence.

After the car is unlocked, I slide into the driver's seat. Harry returns into the forest to go and collect up our camping gear, and I feel tears choking in my throat.

It's not supposed to be like this, all the stories I was told as a child, the anecdotes of my mum, seeing my friend's and their soul-mates, it's supposed to be like an old romantic movie, not some soap opera. I sigh, clenching my hands on the driving wheel, allowing a few salty tears to roll down my cheeks.

I'll drive Harry home, and then pay a visit to Hannah. I have a few things to straighten out with her.

After that, I'll go home and apologise to Laura and mum.

I pull out my phone to check the time, but a message catches my eye.

**Polly - Hey, are we still on for today?**

My heart seems to stop, and then suddenly leap into a lurching pace, pumping against my rib cage like a hammer. My phone says it's 6:23, and I sigh with relief. Change of plans, I drop Harry home, drive to my house, get ready, play tennis with Polly for two hours, and then drive straight to Hannah's for a girl to girl chat. I just hope she doesn't hate me so much that she won't talk this through with me.

I'm about to put my phone back in my pocket, when another text lights up my phone.

**Marcia - Um srry wot? Who the fuck is this?**

I curse under my breath as I unlock my phone. I stare at our conversation, embarrassment flooding through me. I quickly type an answer and hit send.

**Hi, sorry, that was meant to be for my mum!**

A few minutes later -

**Marcia - k... that still doesnt explain who u r...**

You'd have thought for such a popular girl, she'd have learnt to text properly and not in the irritating abbreviated way.

**You probably don't know who I am, but I'm Anna Evelyn**

**Marcia - O ur in my business right?**

**Yeah, also in maths and science. Have you revised for the physics test on Monday?**

**Marcia - K. Stop texting me now.**

I stare at the last text, dumbfounded. My confidence went up when she recognised me, yet it swoops back down. How could she even say that to someone? If being popular means having to be rude to people, then I'm glad to have my unpopular, slightly weird friends thanks.

Harry returns for the last time and shuts the boot. He climbs into the passenger seat.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just the girl I accidently texted yesterday replied."

I show him the texts, and he doesn't even crack a smile, he just nods his head.

"She seems nice." He says. My eyes flick to him, his face clouded and moody.

"Harry..."

"Just drive." I nod, upset at his harsh tones. What the hell did I do? He'll calm down soon enough, I just need to leave him for a bit.

Sure enough, in a few minutes, his hand squeezes my knee, and I appreciate the small contact.

 _"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything,"_ He thinks to me.

" _Stop apologising. Now. I have forgiven you. We just need to learn more about each other, especially with the necklaces making up thoughts."_ Harry leans towards me and pecks me lightly on the cheek, before curling back up against the window.


	11. Chapter 11

Half an hour later, we draw up outside his house. I cut off the engine, and the car is filled with an uncomfortable silence. I turn to him, locking with his beautiful green eyes. My hand tentatively lifts up, and I stroke his cheek, running my fingers along his jawline. His eyes close softly and he leans into my touch. "Harry, we're going to need to start talking more. If you ever, _ever_ feel angry, or lonely, or particularly down, I don't care where I am, or what I'm doing, you call me. No matter the time. At school, they allow you to take calls if they're from your soul-mate, so long as they aren't too frequent and last no more than ten minutes each, okay?"

He nods, but remains silent. A billion thoughts are rushing through his mind, and hearing one of them is like trying to catch a number plate on a motorway.

"Stop being angry at yourself. I love you more than you can ever know, and you need to start loving yourself just as much." His eyes flick down. "I understand what you did with Hannah was a mistake, and you came clean with it and explained it to me. I can also tell that you're not lying to me about it not going further, because you can't lie to your own soul, and therefore you can't lie to mine. So, stop beating yourself up over it, 'kay?"

He nods, and then stretches across the seat. Our lips meet halfway, and they mould against each other, as if they were made to fit together. My hands trails up his cheek and entwines into his hair, the other one supporting my weight on my arm rest. One hand cups my cheek, the other lightly squeezing my mid thigh.

We break apart, our lips just millimetres apart. "You take my breath away," I whisper, his breath hot on my face. He nudges his nose against mine, and we eskimo kiss.

He then swings the car door open, and I feel his mood perk up just a little bit. I settle into my seat, watching him unlock his front door. He kicks the door open, and then comes back out to gather up all the bags. I watch his back muscles ripple with the weight of the bags.

As he places the last bag into the hallway, he turns around, waves and blows a kiss. I mime catching it and placing it to my lips, before waving, and driving away.

Before I'm halfway down the street, my phone buzzes with an incoming call. Frowning, I pick it up and read the contact number

**Call from: Your Soul-Mate**

He must have stored it into my phone without me realising. I nibble my lip, and decide to pull over. I'm only just licensed to drive on these roads, I'm not crashing now.

I pick up and hold the phone against my ear.

"Fuck, Annie, I miss you already," His voice sounds huskier over the phone and I squirm in my seat a bit.

"I miss you too,"

"I'm really sorry about how I acted in the car, really I am. The texts Maria-"

"Marcia,"

"Right, her, they were pretty funny, but I'm angry at how she cut you off like that."

"It's alright, I don't know her too well anyway,"

"I can't stand the thought of someone mistreating you like that."

"Harry, honestly, it's fine."

"Why are you so forgiving? How could you forgive me so easily?"

"Well I don't know her too well so I wasn't that offended, and hey it's Marcia, she's a stuck up bitch, and with you, well I honestly do forgive you. You made a mistake and I accept that, and due to my supressing of emotions, I'm partly to blame,"

"Don't you dare blame this on you," He practically growls, and I smile to myself.

"Well then don't blame it on yourself either. Let's just leave this and let it go, okay?"

There's a beat, before he starts singing the chorus to 'Let It Go'.

I hadn't even realised I said that, and I burst out with laughter, "I love that movie!" I exclaim, hopeful that he does too.

"Same! I'm such a sucker for Disney movies, especially the animal ones, but Frozen was a brilliant human one."

"Yeah the animal ones are usually the best, and yeah Elsa is the best Disney woman by far!"

"On the count of three, name one of your favourite animal Disney movies," He tells me, before counting down from three.

"The Lion King," We both shout, and then burst into laughter. "I love that movie so much!" I tell him, and I hear him make an agreeing sound in his throat.

"We have to have a Disney sleepover, all our favourite Disney movies. I'll buy ice cream, chocolate cake and tissues, because most of them make me cry."

"If the ice cream is Ben & Jerry's cookie dough, then I'm in,"

"Annie, I don't buy any ice cream other than their cookie dough! It's heaven! I'll buy us both a carton each." I smile and thank him. "So do you want to do it tonight?"

"Yeah... Yeah I'd like that. But Harry, I'm sorry I've got to start driving before I'm caught here without a ticket! I'll call you as soon as I get home."

"Okay, I'll talk to you then, and see you tonight, gorgeous,"

"I love you, Harry,"

"Love you too, Annabel." We hang up, and I smile at my phone, glad the small bump in the road has been smoothed out. Mostly. Later, I will visit Hannah, and then this madness will all be over... I hope.


	12. Chapter 12

"Same time next week?" I stand up from a squatting position, swinging my tennis bag over my shoulder. "Sure thing, Polly," I answer with a smile, and she waves, sipping from her Powerbar water bottle. We part, and she climbs into her soul-mate's car.

I hum to myself as I stroll over to my car. After shoving my bag in the back, and the squeeze the ends of my hair, trying to rid as much of the water before I get in the car. I clamber into the driver's seat. As I swing out of the car park, I see Polly's car drive past, and we wave at each other as she zoom past.

***

The door slides open, and I creep into it. It's already eleven, and the house is still quiet. I guess it will be for a while, considering mum and Laura didn't get to bed until a few hours ago. I cringe slightly with guilt.

I quickly shove my kit into my room, grateful I decided to shower and change at the centre. I nip downstairs and make myself a bowl of cereal and hot chocolate.

My mind begins to wander, and before I know it I have my phone in my hands with the contacts starting with the letter H on my home screen. Smiling to myself, I hit the call button. My spoon swirls in the milk, the last few Cheerios spinning with the tornado.

"Hello? Sorry, one sec -" I hear the speaker muffle as he places a hand over it and shouts, "Guys, I said shut up!" I hear an uproar of laughter and wolf whistles from the other side of the line. I absentmindedly chew my lip, my toe tapping on the kitchen tile. "Sorry, about them,"

"That's okay, you free to talk?"

"Uh huh, what's up?" I hear him walking further away from the noise, until all I can hear is his voice and breathing.

"Nothing really. I was just calling... I should let you get back to your friends, sorry for bothering you, bye." Embarrassed, I pull my phone away from my ear to hang up.

"Wait wait wait!" Harry yells quickly, and I hesitantly put it back to my ear, "Please, don't go. I want to talk to you. I'd much rather be here with you than them, but I knew you wouldn't be able to talk for a few hours so decided to meet up with the gang." I chuckle at his use of the word 'gang'.

"What's funny?" He asks me.

"Nothing, just you said gang, and now I'm picturing you all walking down the street in formation, clicking your fingers and bobbing your heads. Weird imagery, but it's entertaining."

I hear him laugh in agreement, and I take the last sip of my hot chocolate.

"Oh hey, Kate and Rosie wanted to know if you wanted to meet up for a coffee with them later, Zayn wanted me to pass on the message."

"Um, sure, what time? And does he have their numbers?" I feel a bit guilty that Hannah won't be there, but I'll talk to her later anyway, and she might be allowed to tag along, depending on how well our chat goes.

"They said at three thirty, at Café Nero, and I'll get their numbers now hang on." I listen to his even breathing as he walks back into the room his 'gang' is in.

He passes Zayn on, who then tells me their numbers. I write them down and thank him.

"So, I'll see you later, right?" Harry asks, and my stomach flips with excitement.

"Of course, what time?"

"Whenever you finish at Nero's."

"Okay, I'll see you then,"

"Bye, Annie, I love you,"

"I love you too, Harry, bye!" We hang up, and I sigh with happiness. For now, everything is perfect.

I stay sitting there, listening to the birds tweeting, just staring at my phone. This time last week, I hadn't even met Harry, and hear I am now, and it feels like we have been right next to each other our whole lives. I take a steadying breath, and rise. Shoving my dishes into a sink, I mentally prepare myself for the next task of the day.

Dealing with Hannah.


	13. Chapter 13

I sit staring out the front of my window, putting off going inside. I listen to the hum of the engine cut off and I'm left in silence. Taking a deep breath, I open my car door, lock the car, and then make my way up towards Hannah's house for the second time.

My fist reaches up to knock on the door, but it stays in mid air.

" _Come on Annabel, you can do this!"_

I hold my breath, and knock.

I wait.

No answer.

I knock again.

Again, no answer.

I hear a few mutters behind the door, and then high pitched laughter, before it finally swings open. Amanda's smile drops.

"Leave." She snaps, glaring at me with her cold, grey eyes. I hesitate, but a man comes up from behind her and wraps his arm around her waist.

Hang on a sec, didn't Rosie say that Amanda was her step mum? I flick my eyes between them nervously, wondering what it must be like to touch your love and not hear their thoughts. Shaking my head I answer in a quivering voice, "I need to talk to Hannah. There are some things we need to... sort out." Amanda opens her mouth to retaliate but Hannah's dad hushes her.

"Sure thing, she's just upstairs," Amanda turns to face him, and he just shrugs at her, before pulling her away back to the living room. He clicks play on a remote and _Cliffhanger_ begins to play again.

I take cautious steps upstairs, not wanting to seem too intrusive. I bump into her as she's about the charge down the stairs. Her eyes cast down.

"What do you want?" She growls, and I take a step downwards.

"We need to talk. About you and Harry, about your love for him, and if you can... about your soul-mate." Her wide eyes flick up to mine and bore into my soul. I recoil slightly at their bulging disbelief, but they soon flick back down to the creamy carpet, and she merely shrugs.

I follow her up to the top of the stairs and into her room. Soft classical music plays on a record player, and candles are lit around her room. My head grows fuzzy with the scents and smoke. An empty box of tissues sits on her bed, the bin drawn near to the edge of it, filled with scrunched up tissues.

She sits on her pillows and curls her legs up to her chest, glaring at me from the top of her knees, her golden hair sweeping forward and covering her face.

"How could you cheat on him?"

"I didn't. I supressed emotions, because I didn't want him to feel my pain and anger on top of his own. His says that you told him the necklaces generate emotions when we supress them ourselves." Her face picks up with intrigued glee, and she grabs a notebook on the edge of her bedside table. She quickly scribbles down a few notes with one of those pens with feathers at the top. She strokes her cheek absent-mindedly with the feathers, before she answers me.

"It's just a theory I have. Among others."

"Theory about what?"

"The necklaces."

"What about them?" She doesn't reply to my last question, and I don't expect her to; for how much she dislikes me, I'm surprised she's talked so much so far. "Hannah... I found it hard Harry telling me about you, and of course thought your behaviour yesterday was completely unnecessary-"

"You do, do you?"

"Well yes I-"

"Why? Because he's not my soul-mate? Newsflash, princess, I no longer have soul-mate. See my father downstairs? His still friends with my mother, his soul-mate. When they divorced, they removed their necklaces. It's practically unheard of, but it's not against the law. Did anything happen to them? No. He still talks to my mother, who is now happily married with her wife, Eloise, and is married with his new wife Amanda, who's soul-mate died a couple days after they met in a car accident."

"I don't understand what this has to do with Ha-"

"What I'm saying is, is that soul-mates, although it's a romantic thought, and everything we've been brought up to believe like some perfect fucking fairy tale blah, blah, blah, it might not be a reality. Do you actually know Harry? What, you think just because you grew up feeling his emotions, you know him better than anyone else? Let me tell you this: I have been there for him, for just as long as you. And so far, I haven't hurt him by 'supressing emotions', I was there the countless nights he was drinking himself unconscious because he thought you hated him, I was there to watch him slip into depression, and _I_ was the one who brought him out of it. And then you swoop in claiming to know him and love him better than I do all because of a stupid piece of metal around your neck. Tell me, what's his favourite song? Favourite meal? What position does he sleep in? What's his favourite hobby? Guilty pleasure? And who was his best friend since pre school? Me. That's who. I know all those things, and you don't, and you think you love him more than I do? If you do, you've got something wrong with you," She sighs, and I sit in silence, taking in everything she's said, in complete shock.

She takes a steadying breath before continuing, "But, you are what's making Harry happy, and Harry wants you, so of course I won't try and get him away from you, because that's not what someone who loves someone does to them. He chose you, and I'm letting him go. I won't be best friends with you, but I will be civil as long as you let me stay in Harry's life. You can hate me all you want, you can be jealous of mine and Harry's relationship, but I can assure you that I'm not manipulative, and I'm not going to take whatever makes Harry happen away from him. But! If he ever shows signs of wanting to come back to me, if I'm what seems to be what will make him happy, and not you, then I'm afraid we're just going to have to let him choose. For now though, I will shake your hand, and surrender. Harry's yours, but if you ever, _ever_ hurt him again, you will have me to answer for, you got that?" I nod vigorously, pleased about how well that all went.

"Now get the hell out of my house." She hisses, and I stand up. She holds out her hand, and I take it, remembering what she had told me. Her fingers squeeze fiercely around mine, and I grip back just as tightly. Our eyes lock, and although my fingers feel like they're being ground into shattered pieces, I can see a flash of humour and acceptance in her eyes. She releases my hand and nods her head, allowing a few tears to ghost down her cheeks. "Enough crying now." She whispers to herself, wiping away the salty water. She stands up, goes to her record player and exchanges the mellow music to some rock band's music. She twists the dial up, and points to her door.

I nod one last time at her, and then leave.

As I wander out down the path, I can hear her bellowing along the lead singer.

I climb back into my car and take a breath. That went better than I had planned. I take one last look up to her house, and I see her poking her head around the curtain, tears trickling down her face. So much for no more crying. Our eyes lock for a few seconds, before she spins away and yanks the curtains back across.

The music volume increases so that I can hear every word even from out here, and I hear a shout from within for her to turn it down. Smiling softly, I start up the engine again.

Time to get back home, and face mum and Laura's wrath.


	14. Chapter 14

"Alright, I'm sorry mum. It won't happen again," I tell her, my head hanging. Her tired eyes begin to close as she slumps back into the sofa, her voice no doubt hoarse from the screaming she had just done. Laura just sits there glaring at me, and I try to avoid her gaze.

As I begin to climb the stairs, my phone buzzes in my stomach.

My stomach flips as I see the caller. Harry.

"Annie,"

"Harry,"

"You free?"

"Yep," I tell him as I enter my room, flopping down onto my bed.

"Good. Be at my house in an hour."

"An hour?" I groan, "That's no where near enough time to get ready!"

"Of course it is. No need to dress up, we're going to just be snuggled up watching Disney anyway."

I sigh, "Fine, so long as we can watch Lion King first,"

"Sure, whatever you want. Oh, you felt sad earlier, everything alright?"

I hesitate, I really should tell him about my chat with Hannah, but for some reason I don't, "Nope, everything's fine, I'm just a bit stressed." Luckily, that part is true, so I haven't supressed any emotions to him. Hopefully he won't tell that I'm holding back any information. He waits a beat before replying.

"Okay... If you're sure. Well, hopefully I'll be able to help you to relax," I smile to myself at his words.

"Sure thing, Harry, I'll see you then."

"Bye, love you Annie!"

"I love you too," I laugh, and I'm answered with a kiss and then the tone of the end of a phone call.

***

The door swings open, and I become face to face with a girl slightly older than Harry.

"Um... Hi, is Harry there?" One of her eyebrows quirks up, and she leans against the doorframe.

"And you are...?"

"Um, Annabel, but most people call me Annie or Anna," Her face breaks into a smile, and she pulls me into a hug. I'm caught off guard, but I still return the hug.

She pulls away, still beaming at me, "Harry told me everything while I helped him get it all set up for you both. I'm so relieved you aren't the heartless bitch we all expected, I always told him that you weren't but what with his low self esteem and... struggle to look at things with all perspectives, well he is quite hard to console." I nod at her words, and her eyes twinkle. "Come on in. Oh, by the way, I'm Gemma, his sister. Don't worry, I won't let you take any of his shit. We need to unite against Harry as girls, but also love him to pieces at the same time." She holds her hand up for me to high five, and I slap my hand against hers. We discuss how good the high five was as she walks upstairs to Harry's room. She points to different photographs on the wall, Harry as a baby, her and Harry when he was nine in Spain at the beach, their parents' wedding photos, and about seven photos of both Gemma and Harry's birthdays across the years. She jokes and talks with me easily, making me feel more relaxed and at home as we continue up the long staircase. I like Gemma, I already like her a lot.

She knocks on Harry's door loudly, trying to be heard over him singing along to, "Do I Wanna Know," by the Arctic Monkeys, and I feel myself smile at how good he sounds. "Harry... Harry.... HARRY!" His voice cuts off as she screams his name, and there's a few bangs behind the door before the music shuts off and he quickly opens his bedroom door.

"What, Gem?"

"You have a visitor," She steps to the side, so I come into view, and he throws his arms into the air.

"Annie!" Before I can react, he wraps his arms around my waist and lifts me up, before spinning us around on the spot. I laugh gleefully as I wrap my arms around his neck and rest my forehead against his. He sets me down, and I turn to say something to Gemma, but she's already gone. My hands fall from his face, and his own pull away from my waist. Harry trails his hand down my right forearm, and I shiver at the light touch. His hand falls into mine, and his fingers thread through my own.

"Let's watch some Disney," He whispers in my ear, and then pulls me into the bedroom. I don't know how, but he managed to make an offer of watching Disney films sound seductive.

Switching off the light, the room is dark apart from his desk lamp.

He pulls me down onto the bed, and we lie down so that our heads are at the foot of the bed, lying on our stomachs. A television is on the wall facing us, and he lifts a remote control up to the TV, and presses a button. The opening scene to Lion King is there, paused, waiting for him to just click one button and begin the first of many Disney films. He leans down and lifts a huge bowl of warm, buttery popcorn up from his side of the bed and places it between our heads. We lie propped up on our elbows and take a few pieces of popcorn each before he turns to me, his face illuminated by the bright screen and says, "Shall we begin?" I nod my head vigorously, and he leans forward and presses a light kiss on my lips. He turns to face the screen, and presses play. "The Circle Of Life" begins to play, and luckily his attention is on the screen, so he doesn't see my flaming cheeks. I lean my head against his shoulder, and his own falls to rest on top of mine.

Throughout the film, we both shift every few minutes to get more comfortable, until we end up sitting up in bed against the head board, with me curled up against his chest, his hand stroking my hair rhythmically. This day has definitely improved.


	15. Chapter 15

I wipe away the stray tears, the end credits of Bambi starting to play. Taking a deep breath I chuckle to myself, how silly it is to cry over a cartoon.

I turn to my side to talk to Harry, but he's asleep.

"Harry... Harry..." I murmur, nudging him slightly. He mumbles in his sleep, frowning and fidgeting. "Harry!"

"Bleurgh where's the rabbit?" He slurs, his head snapping up and his bleary eyes swivelling around the room. I hold back my laughter as he takes in his surroundings, and then flops his head back down.  
I wait a few seconds, pondering on whether or not I should wake him again, when his mouth opens. "What time is it?" He croaks out, his voice rough from sleep. I snuggle my head against his shoulder and reply.

"Around 1 am, you should have told me you were tired, we could have turned it off ages ago."

"You watched it all?"

"Yeah."

"Well then we didn't need to turn it off. I've seen Bambi countless times."

"Okay." We lie in silence for a while, but I still don't feel sleepy. The title screen returns, illuminating the room. Sometime around eleven Harry turned on his orange lava lamp, and I watch the darker colour swirl up and down.  
His breathing becomes deeper, and I know he's close to falling back asleep.

"Harry?"

"Hmpf?"

"I'm not sleepy." At my words, his eyes open and he stretches in bed. He jumps up, stretching his arms and shaking his head.  
"Um... what are you doing?"   
"You're not tired enough to go to sleep, so we won't. Which movie next?"  
"Harry, you don't have to-"  
"Annie, what kind of gentleman would I be if I went to bed and denied you of the same pleasure? No innuendo intended!" I stifle a chuckle at his choice of words, and he throws the cushion on his desk chair at me . It hits me in the face, and we remain in silence, staring each other down. I grit my teeth into a baring smile, and the. grab one of the bed pillows. My arm swings back and I whack him with it, only just managing to hold onto the pillow case. He yelps and staggers a bit, but as he pulls back up I see a mischievous glint in his eyes, and a wild smile on his lips. He dives forward, grabbing a pillow for himself and then smacking my sides with it. I hysterically laugh as we have a pillow fight, pulling our arms back and using loads of strength, yet barely causing any pain to each other. I hit him on the arm with my pillow and his own flies out of his hands. He lets out a cry of dismay as his weapon and shield is no longer with him, but instead of leaping out of bed to get it, he uses this moment to pounce on me. His fingers slip under my chin and tickle my most. sensitive spot, and I become helpless beneath him. I'm a completely hysterical wreck, my peals of laughter turn into shrieks, and I gasp for breaths between shouts of "Mercy!" but he's relentless. After what seems an hour of this torture, his fingers are still, and my laughter ceases. I look into his eyes and smile softly. The lava lamp makes his hair catch the light perfectly, his eyes and lips shadowed by other features. I lie beneath him, my wrists pinned above my head with one of his hands, his other still cradling my neck. I almost regain control of my breathing and heart rate, but all hopes of slowing them down are lost as he lowers his lips onto mine, his eyes fluttering shut. As they meet, he loosens his grip on my wrists, and his hand slides down the bed to rest on my hip. My own curl upwards, one threading through his hair and the other gripping onto the soft T-Shirt on his shoulder. Just as his finger hooks under the bottom of my top to pull it over my head, the door slams open. Harry yelps against my mouth and springs away from me, causing him to roll out of his bed and crash on the floor. I lurch out to get him, but then nearly scream at the sight of the person at the door. The figure's hair is scraped back so tight I can almost hear her scalp screaming in pain, a white cream covers her whole face, and her head is tipped back so the cucumber slices don't slide off her face. It takes me a few seconds to realise who it is. It's only Gemma. She rips the cucumber off her eyes and waggles them at the bed as she begins to scold him.  
"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL WERE YOU DOING? Harry? HARRY?!" She screeches, I have to cover my ears she's so loud. Harry sheepishly lifts himself up from behind me and crawls back onto the bed, his head hanging like a dog being scolded. "WELL? Have you forgotten that I am meeting up with Philippos tomorrow? HAVE YOU?" He murmurs something even I don't hear, "HAVE YOU?" She repeats, and I feel myself flinch.  
"I said no! Jeez..."  
"Don't you 'jeez' me young man, I am meeting royalty tomorrow, I might, or shall I say will, become the Queen of Greece AND Denmark someday and all you can think about is having the sexy times with your soulmate and creating as much noise as humanely possible?!"  
"Look who's talking!" He replies indignantly.  
"Shut it, brat. I'm so sorry, Annie, I don't blame you at all, it's just my stupid younger brother."  
I open my mouth to reply, but Harry does before I can, "Go on then, go get your beauty sleep so you can impressive the royals, but you'll have to sleep for at least a decade to get any beauty from it." She screams and chucks the slices of cucumber at him. He sucks, laughing, and she storms out of the room, slamming the door so hard that it makes the frame shake.  
We both lie down on the bed, and I snuggle up against him, my body and mind finally sleepy after our pillow fight and ahem... exercise.  
As my eyes begin to shut, I feel my mind wander, and I'm suddenly struck by a thought. "Harry?"  
"Hmmm?"  
"What did Gemma mean when she said she might be Queen of Greece and Denmark?"  
"Ugh that, she won't stop going on about it. Last year, we went to Greece on holiday, and there was some National holiday going on. Greece abolished monarchy years ago, but the royal family still exists there, and are still adored by a lot of the public. They were doing a float, and as he passed by and was waving to the crowd, Gemma suddenly grabbed my arm and nearly fainted. His eyes locked with hers and he stopped waving. He tried to get his older brother to stop the float but he wouldn't listen to him. I gave the tearful and weak Gemma a piggy back and ran through the crowd to follow the float. The prince all the while was leaning out of the float just watching us. At the end, he crawled down the ladder and ran over to us. They spent the rest of the two weeks together. Gemma had known the name for five years by then, but she had never thought it would belong to a prince of a different country. They still live in different countries, but they Skype and phone each other daily. He's coming over tomorrow, and then she's going to fly back with him in a couple months to live with him. So for a few months I have to share a house with royalty, yay for me." He ends dryly, and I feel myself smiling against his chest.  
"I think someone's jealous of a certain Prince,"  
"Of course I am! Who wouldn't be? No responsibility to rule his countries, yet he still gets the fame, money and public adoration, and he doesn't even like it! He hates being in the media!"  
"Well, you don't know what it's like being constantly in the news, always having paparazzi following you around, especially if he didn't choose it. Maybe he's jealous of you, you met your soulmate the day your necklace first burnt, he had to wait five." Harry harrumphs at my reply, sulkily, and I let out a small laugh as I kiss his cheek. He quickly goes an turns the TV and lava lamp off, and by the time he returns, his body is already cold. He pulls me into a bear hug, and I struggle to get away, his body stealing away my warmth. "Harry! You're freezing!" I giggle, but he just laughs at me. Eventually our bodies match in heat, and I bury my head into his shoulder, our arms locked in an embrace . We both fall asleep to the transferring thoughts of sweet nothings.


End file.
